Budweiser came under fire in the spring of 2023 when the brand partnered with influencer Dylan Mulvaney on the star’s TikTok account. Mulvaney received cans of Bud Light with her face on them to commemorate March Madness, the American collegiate basketball tournament, and to celebrate her one year anniversary “of womanhood” (Stewart, 2023). The Tiktok sponsorship was meant to promote a $15,000 Sweepstakes run by Bud Light, open to users who took part in their beer carrying challenge. Instead, the result was massive boycotting by the American Right.
The case of the backlash towards Bud Light is interesting not only in analysing the decisions that led to the Mulvaney Partnership, but also in reviewing the multi-channel response that Right-Wing Americans undertook to express their discontent.
Outcry at the Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light partnership was due to the influencer’s Transgender identity and discussion of this on her platform. Issues of gender identity are extremely hot topics in the United States, with many conservatives staunchly against Trans visibility and gender-affirming healthcare (Meckler and Clement, 2023). Following Mulvaney’s post, right wing media outlets and conservative cultural figures called for a boycott of all Anheuser-Busch products (Stableford, 2023). The business launched into damage control not long after, but ultimately Bud Light sales dropped 24.6% following the controversy (Hamilton, 2023). This is contrary to what polling may have indicated though, as “a recent Morning Consult survey found that 53% of beer drinkers in the US said they would feel favourable toward a brand with a trans spokesperson” (Hicks, 2023).
About two weeks after Mulvaney’s Bud Light post went live and the negative response began, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement reaffirming the company’s commitment to “bringing people together over a beer” but not addressing Trans issues or the public viciousness directed towards the TikToker (Whitworth, 2023). The same day, Bud Light picked back up their multi-channel marketing as usual, taking to Twitter with a pro-America video ad and a “TGIF?” tweet that both received negative responses. The scale of the boycott Anheuser-Busch messaging is indicative of the “spreadable media” landscape that exists today (Jenkins, 2006).
YouTube videos of Budweiser commercials from years ago, having nothing to do with the topics up for debate, now have comments regarding the Dylan Mulvaney partnership and their loss of trust and support in the brand (Budweiser ’9/11 Tribute’ Ad: Super Bowl 2011). Those who may not have accounts on TikTok were sure to hear about the controversy on other platforms (CBS News, 2023) and may have been the ones fueling the fire in comment sections on YouTube. This highlights once again the “flow of content across multiple media platforms” and the “migratory behaviour of media audiences” (Jenkins, 2006).
The TikTok itself was nothing out of the ordinary for modern digital marketing practices. Influencer Marketing and User Generated Content represent a significant slice of many brand’s advertising budgets, having grown to a $21.1 billion industry (Santora, 2023). Marketers want to reach consumers on their smartphones, as they represent the nexus of converging media platforms. Social Media networks are often considered the places to do so, but when the Mulvaney story was picked up by Fox News and print and web news networks, it transcended an innocuous TikTok sponsorship.
Damage to Bud Light’s reputation, and more importantly the psychological distress Mulvaney went through when receiving severe cyberbullying and death threats (Roeloffs, 2023), are results of the media convergence era. This era can be understood as the adaptation of the current media landscape due to changing “industrial, technological, cultural, and social” aspects (Jenkins, 2006). While differing attitudes towards Transgender influencers might reflect the shifting cultural and social tides of American society, technological shifts are seen in the multi-channel Right-Wing response to the controversy. Jenkins is careful to distinguish that apps like YouTube and Facebook are not themselves participatory cultures but “rather they are tools participatory cultures sometimes use as means of maintaining social contact or sharing their cultural productions with each other” (Jenkins, Mizuko Ito and Boyd, 2015, pp.6–33).
Luckily, active audiences and cultural participants can be part of positive outcomes for brands as well. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 19.7% of Americans born between 1997 and 2004 identify as LGBTQ+ as opposed to only 3.3% of Baby Boomers (Jones, 2023). The Associated Press reports that experts believe inclusive ads will not go away despite some receiving backlash (Durbin, 2023). But brands will have to be careful to not repeat the mistakes of Bud Light, who failed to stand up for Mulvaney and for their commitment to her post and their choice to work with her. The brand did not commit to, or was confused by, its values. In Marketing Week, Mark Ritson wrote “Adopting a purpose and being driven by a social agenda are wonderful things, but they do not necessarily go hand-in-hand with short- or long-term profitability” (Ritson, 2023).
As the case of Dylan Mulvaney’s Bud Light controversy shows, the current media convergence landscape allows rapid spread of digital assets, which in turn are taken in by active audiences who have a choice in their response and opinions. This can add fuel to a fire, especially when brands do not uphold their initial choices and put their values in question. As marketers make decisions about purpose-driven campaigns in the future, it would be wise to consider which platforms their message will be heard on and which audiences their partnerships will resonate with.
Bibliography
Budweiser ’9/11 Tribute’ Ad: Super Bowl 2011. (2016). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyP0JsyvYnA [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Durbin, D.-A. (2023). Bud Light fumbles, but Experts Say Inclusive Ads Will Stay. [online] AP News. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/bud-light-transgender-dylan-mulvaney-nike-2fe1425ba09a3f0e271fda0ae4b67434 [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Hamilton, K. (2023). Bud Light Passed by Modelo Especial as America’s Most Popular Beer after Conservative Boycotts. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/06/14/bud-light-no-longer-americas-most-popular-beer-amid-conservative-boycotts/?sh=9a725e83228b [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Hicks, K. (2023). What Marketers Can Learn from Bud Light’s Response to Backlash. [online] Marketing Brew. Available at: https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/05/10/what-marketers-can-learn-from-bud-light-s-response-to-backlash [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York ; London: New York University Press.
Jenkins, H., Mizuko Ito and Boyd, D. (2015). Participatory Culture in a Networked Era : a Conversation on youth, learning, commerce, and Politics. Cambridge: Polity, pp.6–33.
Jones, J. (2023). U.S. LGBT Identification Steady at 7.2%. [online] Gallup.com. Available at: https://news.gallup.com/poll/470708/lgbt-identification-steady.aspx [Accessed 14 Nov. 2023].
Meckler, L. and Clement, S. (2023). Most Americans Support anti-trans Policies Favored by GOP, Poll Shows. [online] Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/05/trans-poll-gop-politics-laws/ [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
News, C. (2023). Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney: Why the Extreme Backlash from a Single Social Media post? [online] http://www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXOpUkEJdjY [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Ritson, M. (2023). Bud Light’s Ad Backlash Shows the Complexity of Mass Marketing. [online] Marketing Week. Available at: https://www.marketingweek.com/ritson-bud-lights-ad-backlash-mass-marketing/ [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Roeloffs, M.W. (2023). Dylan Mulvaney Opens up about Bud Light Controversy: ‘Hiring Trans People Should Not Be Political’. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/10/03/dylan-mulvaney-opens-up-about-bud-light-controversy-hiring-trans-people-should-not-be-political/?sh=4407f5968b42 [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Santora, J. (2023). Key Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know for 2022. [online] Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/ [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Stableford, D. (2023). Why Is Kid Rock Shooting Bud Light Cans? Explaining the Latest anti-trans Boycott. [online] Yahoo News. Available at: https://news.yahoo.com/kid-rock-shoots-bud-light-cans-video-boycott-dylan-mulvaney-trans-travis-tritt-201217000.html? [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Stewart, E. (2023). The Bud Light Boycott, Explained as Much as Is Possible. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/money/2023/4/12/23680135/bud-light-boycott-dylan-mulvaney-travis-tritt-trans [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Whitworth, B. (2023). Our Responsibility to America | Anheuser-Busch. [online] http://www.anheuser-busch.com. Available at: https://www.anheuser-busch.com/newsroom/our-responsibility-to-america [Accessed 15 Nov. 2023].
Rory Coleman 